killugh (October 13, 2008 at 11:13 pm)

A professional drummer at a clinic I attended a few years back had this story about Buddy: When I was a kid I saw him play at a drummers clinic. He let me come up and watch right beside him. I asked him if he could slow down his sticks so that I could see what he was doing exactly (he was making some wicked cadence sounds). Buddy looked up at me and said, "I did slow it down." And he continued playing some weird progressions... Heh.

fredrhd (October 13, 2008 at 10:38 pm)

ha! That's awesome!

dotdadee (October 13, 2008 at 9:12 pm)

True Story as told to me by Louie Bellson; a letter was floating around addressed ONLY to The Worlds Greatest Drummer. Many drummers passed it on to each other without opening it.When Bellson got it he thought "I'm not the greatest drummer" and he gave it to Gene Krupa. Krupa said, "I'm not the greatest drummer" and gave it to Buddy Rich. Buddy Rich opens the envelope takes out the letter, and the letter begins, "Dear Ringo..."

ufig101 (October 13, 2008 at 8:59 pm)

McJohnGr, but I've just realised my mistake lol.I misread it, i thought he said give one reason why he IS the greatest drummer, but he was actually saying ISN'T.My mistake, apologies to McJohnGr :S

dotdadee (October 13, 2008 at 6:20 pm)

All one has to do is read one of his biographies. At 18 MONTHS old he was the bread winner of his family. His childhood never happened because his parents were afraid his hands would would get hurt if he went outside and played with the other kids. With his big band he gave the young unknown band members a chance of a lifetime where he COULD HAVE played ONLY with the greats and made LOTS of money. No wonder he got mad when the young band members didn't give 100% for that 90 min on the stage.

dotdadee (October 13, 2008 at 6:12 pm)

ufig101...who are you directing your comment to?

ufig101 (October 13, 2008 at 5:50 pm)

Because he has true mastery of the kit, anyone can see that.Let me guess, you're one of those retarded people who say "Buddy Rich isn't that good at drums and I have clever reasons for thinking so because I'm so deep and thoughtful about drums and anyone who disagrees is stupid, but not me, I'm different because I think he's not as good as everyone else and that makes me awesome"

MarkR1957 (October 13, 2008 at 5:48 pm)

Right you are. Plus, Buddy did a lot of work with inner city kids, giving them free clinics and bringing the message of Jazz to them.True, Buddy could be a real pill sometimes, but he also did a lot of very nice things for people.It seems to me that most people only want to concentrate on the negative ~

dotdadee (October 13, 2008 at 5:30 pm)

He played in a place called Paul's Steakhouse in Olean that long since has burned down. Buddy played in many small towns. When the band would go on tour in the bus his manager would call small towns that he would be passing through enroute when going from one big city to the next. Also, many people don't know this but Buddy was also very charitable. He would play benefit concerts on the condition that the organization not say that his band played for free. Most people don't know this about him.

trappinaro (October 13, 2008 at 12:52 pm)

THE BEST DRUMMER OF THE WORLD